Solid waste management was the top agenda at the three-week Parliament session, where three concessions were authorised to take over rubbish collection duties from state governments in Peninsular Malaysia.

In passing the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Bill 2007, a Solid Waste Management Corporation will be set up to act as a watchdog on solid waste management and enforcement by local authorities.

Its counterpart will be the National Solid Waste Management Department under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.

Three concessions that are tasked to handle solid waste not to be confused with sewerage are Alam Flora Sdn Bhd, Southern Waste Management and E-idaman, which would take over the role of managing solid waste from local authorities

Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting said it would take the government two years to fully implement the plan, adding that a special advisory committee will be formed to ensure good delivery system.

A Biosafety Bill was also passed to make labelling of food ingredients mandatory and to boost the image of Malaysia as a halal hub.

Home Minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad also announced that a bill to form a department to manage the volunteers corp Rela will be presented soon.

The department is to manage and streamline the volunteers' duties and jurisdiction. Rela has been accused of acting out of bounds, especially in cracking down on illegal immigrants.

Foreign envoy rapped

On international affairs, backbenchers called for European Commission head Thierry Rommel to be barred from Malaysia for criticising the New Economic Policy (NEP).

During a question time session, BN MP for Sri Gading Mohamad Aziz had called Rommel rude and said he should be "kicked out" for exhibiting a lack of understanding on local politics.

Rommel had last month told foreign and local businessmen that the NEP was stifling the country's economic competitiveness and was an unfriendly policy towards foreign companies.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department M Kayveas criticised database company Credit Tip Off Service (Ctos) Sdn Bhd for holding the private financial information of 780,000 people.

This prompted assurances by Deputy Minister of Finance II Awang Adek Hussin that a new law will be drafted to protect privacy.

Crime rate

Following a series of highly publicised highway robberies-cum rape cases along the Johor highway in the last two months, the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance decided to hold public hearings on crime.

The first hearing was held in Johor Bahru last Saturday and one will be held tonight in Petaling Jaya. The final hearing will be held in Penang on July 15.

Caucus chairperson Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz admitted the rising incidence of crime but said the hearings were not "police bashing" events.

On media control, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Dr Lim Keng Yaik ordered Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to immediately withdraw a directive barring private broadcasting stations from airing speeches by opposition leaders.

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) protested that they were not consulted for the drafting of two bills: the Trade Unions Bill (Amendment) 2007 and the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2007. Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn said the ministry would consider deferring the bills.

The Elections Act 1958 was amended but contained no changes what Opposition MPs felt were important towards cleaner elections.

Slaughter of cows, goats

Numerous emergency motions to debate moved by Parliamentary Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang were rejected by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker Ramli Ngah Talib, including motions to debate Malaysia's inclusion in the US human trafficking blacklist, Johor's crime rate, ongoing police investigations into Deputy Internal Security Minister Mohd Johari Baharum and allegations of corruption against Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan.

Noted exchanges in the Dewan Rakyat included a debate on Malaysia's ranking in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Nazi had called the Opposition leader "stupid" numerous times, prompting a heated exchange between the MPs.

The last exchange occurred yesterday, when Opposition MPs protested the slaughter of six cows and 10 goats on the Parliament compounds.

The animals were slaughtered for a dinner organised by the Backbenchers Club to celebrate Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's marriage last month.

Parliament will resume session on August 22.